Jay Kersting's Blog

Just in this morning is word that comedian George Carlin is dead of heart failure at 71. 

I had the chance to see him back in 1993.  It was at Bally's in Las Vegas.   Great show, he did a lot of the stuff that you probably saw on HBO or heard on one of his albums, but even more of it. It was a nice long show from what I recall.

One of the funniest parts of the show was when he just stopped.  He stopped, looked out at the audience, looked up, scratched his head, then said something about being in his mid-50's and his memory being shot.  Then he walked over to a stool where some bottles of water were, as well as some note cards.  He sipped the water, then took his cards, flipped through them and commenting on the cards.  "Did that, yeah, did that one too...oh, yeah, you guys really liked that one.  Oh, oh...OK.  Now I know where I am at."  Then he continued the show.

In 1997, when we moved to Tennessee, my older brother lend me his copy of Carlin's "Braindroppings" to read while I was in Knoxville with Kathy and Alex staying with my parents in Signal Mountain.  I was reading in the bathroom and I LITERALLY fell off the toilet while reading it.

I will admit that later in his life, George Carlin was a bit more curmudgeonly and less funy.  Just angry at times.  I noted this in the page-a-day calendar that Kathy got me for Christmas 2006 (just before I moved here to Jefferson City).  I laughed, at most, once every ten days or so.   It was a great gift that I wanted, just turned out to be a great thought from my wife, Carlin didn't deliver.

Anyhow, he did make people think.  Which is why I have occasionally paraphrased him and referred to him as the great American philosopher George Carlin. 

Most of all, he was a great storyteller.  He will be missed. 

-----------------

WHAT a comeback! 

I had wanted to attend a "Tribute to the Negro Leagues" game at Kauffman Stadium for several years.  Yesterday, I finally got to do so.

The Kerstings went to Kansas City to see the Royals don Kansas City Monarchs uniforms and take on the San Francisco Giants in their 1927 Royal Giants unis.  

I sensed something was amiss when I saw the interlocking RG logo on the Giants uniforms.  Maybe bad karma when the OTHER team wears a uniform of a team with a name similar to yours. 

Then seeing the Royals commit TWO errors in the first half inning as well as giving up six runs in the first three innings added to my view.

But seeing the Royals overcome a seven run deficit (10-3) to win the game 11-10 was rather impressive.

--------------

Now, in a way that would surely irritate George Carlin, let me close by saying, Have a Nice Day!